HENRY MOORE: Mother and Child

This exhibition offers a unique opportunity to gain a deeper and richer understanding

of the personal life of an artist who became in the 1930s and 1940s “the most famous sculptor throughout the English-speaking world,” in the words of art critic Herbert Read.

The Mother and Child theme runs through the whole of Henry Moore’s work. It is his most fundamental obsession, and the one that brought out the best of his considerable talents. The earliest example dates to 1922 when he was still an art student, and in his eighties he stated that he still wanted to make more works on this subject.

The centerpiece of this exhibition is the set of eight stunning tapestries on the theme of ‘women and children’ commissioned by Moore and his daughter. The tapestries were woven by specialist craftspeople between 1976 and 1979, and then shown to great acclaim at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum in 1980. The drawings, prints, small and intimate terracotta and bronze sculptures that make up the rest of the exhibition cover the period from the birth of Moore’s only child, Mary, to that of Moore’s first grandchild, Gus. Considered together, these works allow the viewer to see how Moore handled the Mother and Child theme, and the Family Group --subjects so close to his heart. The majority of the object are from the family’s collections, and have never been seen in such numbers before.